Tiny riders. Whiskered horsepower.
Together to the Mushroom
Bea wanted to reach the mushroom before its shadow covered the path.
“Then we can see the light underneath,” she told Kit.
Bea had seen its broad cap glow in the morning sun and wanted Kit to see it too.
“Let’s meet at the flat stone beside it,” Kit said.
“Together?”
“Together.”
They settled onto their mice. Bea rode Mallow; Kit rode Button, who had a brown mark on one foot.
For the first few steps, the mice travelled side by side. Then Mallow stopped beside a root and lowered her nose to the ground.
Button continued along the path. Kit looked back.
“Are you coming?”
“Mallow is looking at something.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t see from here.”
Button stopped near a dry leaf. Kit waited while Bea and Mallow caught up.
Two Different Stops
“What did Mallow find?” Kit asked.
“I don’t know. She finished looking before I could ask.”
They set off again. This time Button stopped first, his whiskers brushing the edge of the leaf. Mallow went a little farther before Bea noticed that Kit was behind.
Bea turned to look. Between them stood a small stone with a stripe across it.
“Let’s meet there,” she called.
Kit nodded. When Button was ready to move, they came up beside the stone. Bea waited while Kit pointed out the stripe, which ran all the way around it.
“Perhaps it’s wearing a belt,” he said.
“Then it won’t lose its place.”
From the striped stone, they could see another stone beside a patch of moss.
“We could meet there next,” Kit suggested.
Bea agreed. Mallow moved ahead, while Button paused to sniff a twig. Bea and Mallow waited beside the moss until Kit joined them.
The Next Stone
At the mossy stone, Bea looked back at the striped stone.
“We haven’t gone very far,” she said.
“We’ve seen two stones.”
“And a twig.”
“A very interesting twig, apparently.”
Button twitched his whiskers. Mallow moved her nose towards the moss, but Bea saw the mushroom ahead. Its shadow had begun to creep across the path.
“Shall we choose one more place?” she asked.
Kit pointed to a pale pebble near the bend. Both could see it.
This time Button went ahead. Mallow paused at the moss. Bea waited with her, watching Kit reach the pebble. But before they arrived, Button turned towards a curled leaf and stopped again.
Mallow set off. She passed Button, reached the pebble, and settled beside it. Kit laughed as Bea looked back at him.
“Now it’s our turn to wait,” she said.
When the four of them were together again, they could see the flat stone beside the mushroom.
A Place to Meet Again
The shadow had crossed part of the path, but sunlight still reached beneath the mushroom’s cap. Bea and Kit arrived at the flat stone and looked up. Fine lines ran from its stem to the wide golden edge.
“It looks like a little roof,” Kit said.
“A very tall one.”
Mallow and Button rested close to the stone while the two friends watched the light change. A drop slipped from the rim and landed beyond Button’s tail. He turned his head, then settled again.
After a while, Kit looked towards home. Button was already facing the path; Mallow was still looking up at the mushroom.
“Where shall we meet first?” he asked.
Bea pointed to the pale pebble at the bend.
“We know the way there,” she said.
“And we know the way to wait,” Kit added.
They let the mice begin when they were ready. The pale pebble waited around the bend, just where they had left it.
Livora Gracely ♥
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